Books on which Trueblood was based on. I find them very basic reading. I guess it's good if you want a light and fun series of books to read, but there are most definitely other authors that I'd choose over this one. ( )

I rarely think this about a book, but the TV version is better. There is so much MORE going on in True Blood the TV show. They don't kill off Lafayette (not really a spoiler because it happens right in the beginning of the book). They give Jason, Tara, Sam, Callisto, practically every character, more stuff to do. Obviously, an entire season of a TV show has way more space to fill than one mass market paperback, but still. On True Blood they made Godric a much more interesting character (for instance, I'd like to believe that if I lived for a thousand years, I'd be at least a little wiser than a 25-year-old barmaid).

For the first time, I can say that my reading of the book was enriched by watching the story onscreen. I'm not sorry I read it, though. They're pretty fun books and I'll keep reading them. But the show is better.

Also, let me take an official stance here: Bill Compton is kind of boring. Another official stance that I've had since the first book and was only strengthened by this one: Sookie has ridiculous fashion sense. Jeans that lace up the sides with a crop top? OMG, I was taking a ride in the LOLicopter. ( )

I normally don't go for these types of books but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hooked. ( )

This second volume of the series is rather a mixed bag. Sookie is still in a relationship with vampire Bill, and still involved in the affairs of the wider vampire community, through Eric to whom Bill owes allegiance. This leads to her having to go to Dallas and assist the chief vampire there to investigate the disappearance of one of their members: an activity that puts Sookie into multiple perils given the presence of an anti-vampire cult in the city. She also comes into contact with the shapeshifter community there. That part of the story was interesting, although the presence of a vampire who has been a lifelong serial abuser and killer of children was disturbing. However, the story is topped and tailed by another, disconnected, subplot which gives the book a rather messy ending, and it is unfortunate that one of the more interesting minor characters is killed off as a result.

There are fewer graphic sex scenes thankfully, but one unfortunately is rather a trigger - after an absence, Bill wants rough sex and won't take no for an answer which was rather a turn off than the opposite. The continuing fixation with the minutiae of what Sookie is wearing is also noticeable, and helps to make the character seem rather shallow. Considering that her grandmother was murdered in their house a few months previously in book 1, she is remarkably unchanged by that experience and doesn't seem to have suffered any grief for the woman who raised Sookie and her brother after their parents were killed when they were young children. Her 'love' for Bill seems mainly based upon his prowess between the sheets. I continue to feel sorry for Sam, her employer, who for reasons unexplained kept his attraction to her a secret until she became involved with Bill - although he is a shapeshifter, adding to the continuing need to suspend disbelief in these books, he does seem to be rather a better prospect on a number of counts, including the fact that he is considerate and a decent man (when not in the form of a collie dog).

This story was a bit better than book 1, hence the 3-star rating, but considering that I have quite a few of these books in hand, I'm beginning to wish I hadn't bought so many. Luckily quite a few of them were cheap second-hand purchases! ( )

I thought this was slightly better than the first although I didn't love the ending. Less predictable on the murder mystery part but I didn't care as much either so that was a wash for me. I still don't get how these books are supposed to be funny. They aren't. There is actually a heavy cloud of darkness to them that at times makes me uncomfortable. And because I'm still in a reading slump I'm sure I'll continue to read the next ones until I find something else. Seriously if you have something else let me know! ( )